How books can open your mind | Lisa Bu

Transcriber: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

Translator: Klavdija Cernilogar Reviewer: Jonathan Rebec

So I was trained to become a gymnast

Dve leti sem trenirala, da bi postala telovadka.

for two years in Hunan, China in the 1970s.

To je bilo v 1970. letih v Hunanu na Kitajskem.

When I was in the first grade, the government

Ko sem bila v prvem razredu, me je vlada

wanted to transfer me to a school for athletes,

želela premestiti v šolo za atlete

all expenses paid.

z vsemi plačanimi stroški.

But my tiger mother said, "No."

Moja odločna mati pa je rekla ne.

My parents wanted me to become

Starša sta želela, da bi postala

an engineer like them.

inženirka, tako kot onadva.

After surviving the Cultural Revolution,

Preživela sta kulturno revolucijo

they firmly believed there's only one sure way to happiness:

in trdno sta bila prepričana, da obstaja samo ena pot do sreče:

a safe and well-paid job.

varna in dobro plačana služba.

It is not important if I like the job or not.

Ni pomembno, ali ti je služba všeč ali ne.

But my dream was to become a Chinese opera singer.

Jaz pa sem sanjala, da bi postala pevka v kitajski operi.

That is me playing my imaginary piano.

Tule igram svoj namišljeni klavir.

An opera singer must start training young

Operni pevci morajo vaditi od malih nog,

to learn acrobatics,

se naučiti akrobatike,

so I tried everything I could to go to opera school.

zato sem naredila vse, da bi se lahko vpisala v operno šolo.

I even wrote to the school principal

Celo ravnatelju sem pisala

and the host of a radio show.

in voditelju radijske oddaje tudi.

But no adults liked the idea.

A nobenemu od odraslih moja ideja ni bila všeč.

No adults believed I was serious.

Nihče ni verjel, da mislim resno.

Only my friends supported me, but they were kids,

Samo prijatelji so me podpirali, a bili so otroci,

just as powerless as I was.

prav tako nemočni kot jaz sama.

So at age 15, I knew I was too old to be trained.

Pri petnajstih sem vedela, da sem prestara.

My dream would never come true.

Moje sanje se ne bodo nikoli uresničile.

I was afraid that for the rest of my life

Bala sem se, da bom do konca življenja

some second-class happiness

lahko upala kvečjemu na

would be the best I could hope for.

neko drugorazredno srečo.

But that's so unfair.

Ampak to je tako nepravično.

So I was determined to find another calling.

Odločila sem se najti drug poklic.

Nobody around to teach me? Fine.

Nikogar ni bilo, ki bi me učil? Prav.

I turned to books.

Obrnila sem se h knjigam.

I satisfied my hunger for parental advice

Svojo lakoto po starševskih nasvetih sem potešila

from this book by a family of writers and musicians.["Correspondence in the Family of Fou Lei"]

s tole knjigo, ki jo je napisala družina pisateljev in glasbenikov.

I found my role model of an independent woman

Našla sem svojo vzornico v obliki samostojne ženske,

when Confucian tradition requires obedience.["Jane Eyre"]

medtem ko konfucijanska tradicija zahteva ubogljivost.

And I learned to be efficient from this book.["Cheaper by the Dozen"]

In tale knjiga me je naučila učinkovitosti.

And I was inspired to study abroad after reading these.

Po tehle sem dobila navdih za študij v tujini.

["Complete Works of Sanmao" (aka Echo Chan)] ["Lessons From History" by Nan Huaijin]

("Zbrana dela Sanmaa" (Echo Chan)) ("Lekcije iz zgodovine", Nan Huaijin)

I came to the U.S. in 1995,

V ZDA sem prišla leta 1995.

so which books did I read here first?

In kaj sem najprej prebrala?

Books banned in China, of course.

Knjige, ki so na Kitajskem prepovedane, seveda.

"The Good Earth" is about Chinese peasant life.

"Dobra Zemlja" govori o kitajskem kmečkem življenju.

That's just not convenient for propaganda. Got it.

Pač ni primerna za propagando. Razumem.

The Bible is interesting, but strange.

Biblija je zanimiva, ampak čudna.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

That's a topic for a different day.

To je tema za kak drug dan.

But the fifth commandment gave me an epiphany:

A peta zapoved je prinesla razsvetljenje:

"You shall honor your father and mother."

"Spoštuj očeta in mater."

"Honor," I said. "That's so different,

"Spoštuj", pravi. To je tako drugače

and better, than obey."

in boljše od "ubogaj".

So it becomes my tool to climb out

Postala je moje orodje za izhod

of this Confucian guilt trap

iz konfucijanske pasti krivde

and to restart my relationship with my parents.

in mi omogočila na novo začeti odnos s starši.

Encountering a new culture also started my habit

V novi kulturi sem razvila tudi navado

of comparative reading.

primerjalnega branja.

It offers many insights.

To prinese veliko spoznanj.

For example, I found this map out of place at first

Na primer, sprva sem mislila, da je ta zemljevid nenavaden,

because this is what Chinese students grew up with.

saj kitajski študentje odrastejo s takim.

It had never occurred to me,

Nikoli nisem pomislila,

China doesn't have to be at the center of the world.

da Kitajska ni nujno v središču sveta.

A map actually carries somebody's view.

Zemljevid pravzaprav kaže nekogaršnji pogled.

Comparative reading actually is nothing new.

Primerjalno branje v bistvu ni nič novega.

It's a standard practice in the academic world.

V akademskem svetu je uveljavljena praksa.

There are even research fields

Cela raziskovalna področja obstajajo,

such as comparative religion and comparative literature.

recimo primerjalna religiologija in primerjalna književnost.

Compare and contrast gives scholars

Primerjava znanstvenikom nudi

a more complete understanding of a topic.

bolj celovito razumevanje teme.

So I thought, well, if comparative reading

Zato sem si mislila, no, če primerjalno branje

works for research, why not do it in daily life too?

deluje v raziskovanju, zakaj ne bi v vsakodnevnem življenju?

So I started reading books in pairs.

Tako sem začela knjige brati v parih.

So they can be about people --

Lahko so o ljudeh

["Benjamin Franklin" by Walter Isaacson]["John Adams" by David McCullough] --

("Benjamin Franklin", Walter Isaacson) ("John Adams", David McCollough)

who are involved in the same event,

ki so vpleteni v isti dogodek,

or friends with shared experiences.

o prijateljih, ki delijo doživetja.

["Personal History" by Katharine Graham]["The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life," by Alice Schroeder]

("Osebna zgodovina", Katherine Graham) ("Snežna kepa: Warren Buffett in posel življenja", Alice Schroeder)

I also compare the same stories in different genres -- (Laughter)

Primerjam tudi iste zgodbe skozi različne žanre (smeh)

[Holy Bible: King James Version]["Lamb" by Chrisopher Moore] --

("Sveto pismo: Verzija kralja Jakoba") ("Jagnje", Christopher Moore)

or similar stories from different cultures,

ali podobne zgodbe iz različnih kultur,

as Joseph Campbell did in his wonderful book.["The Power of Myth" by Joseph Campbell]

kot je to storil Joseph Campbell v svoji čudoviti knjigi.

For example, both the Christ and the Buddha

Tako Kristus kot Buda, na primer,

went through three temptations.

sta se soočala s tremi skušnjavami.

For the Christ, the temptations

Kristusove so bile

are economic, political and spiritual.

ekonomska, politična in duhovna.

For the Buddha, they are all psychological:

Budine so bile vse psihološke:

lust, fear and social duty -- interesting.

poželenje, strah in družbena odgovornost - zanimivo.

So if you know a foreign language, it's also fun

Če razumete tuj jezik, je zabavno tudi

to read your favorite books in two languages.

brati najljubše knjige v dveh jezikih.

["The Way of Chuang Tzu" Thomas Merton]["Tao: The Watercourse Way" Alan Watts]

("Pot Čuang Tzuja", Thomas Merton) ("Tao: pot vode", Alan Watts)

Instead of lost in translation, I found there is much to gain.

Ne gre za izgubljeno s prevodom, ampak za veliko korist.

For example, it's through translation that I realized

Na primer, skozi prevod sem spoznala,

"happiness" in Chinese literally means "fast joy." Huh!

da "sreča" v kitajščini dobesedno pomeni "hitro veselje". Ha!

"Bride" in Chinese literally means "new mother." Uh-oh.

"Nevesta" je v kitajščini dobesedno "nova mati." Ojoj.

(Laughter)

(smeh)

Books have given me a magic portal to connect with people

Knjige so mi odprle magična vrata, ki vodijo v stik z ljudmi

of the past and the present.

iz preteklosti in sedanjosti.

I know I shall never feel lonely or powerless again.

Nikoli več ne bom osamljena ali nemočna.

Having a dream shattered really is nothing

To, da so mi uničili sanje, ni nič

compared to what many others have suffered.

v primerjavi s trpljenjem mnogih drugih ljudi.

I have come to believe that coming true

Verjamem, da uresničitev sanj

is not the only purpose of a dream.

ni njihov edini namen.

Its most important purpose is to get us in touch

Najpomembnejši namen je najti stik

with where dreams come from,

s prostorom, od koder prihajajo sanje,

where passion comes from, where happiness comes from.

od koder prihajajo strasti in kjer je sreča.

Even a shattered dream can do that for you.

Celo uničene sanje vam to lahko prinesejo.

So because of books, I'm here today,

Danes sem tu zaradi knjig,

happy, living again with a purpose and a clarity,

srečna, živim z namenom in jasnim pogledom,

most of the time.

vsaj večino časa.

So may books be always with you.

Naj bodo knjige vedno z vami.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(aplavz)¸

Thank you. (Applause)

Hvala. (aplavz)

Thank you. (Applause)

Hvala. (aplavz)